i'm nobody!

Sad as it is, I've decided to make my journal friends only in order to better protect my intellectual property. I made a bunch of banners and couldn't bear to just choose one, so one gets the dubious honor of being outside the cut. The rest are underneath.

( THE CUT. )

Hey, remember that Bobbsey Twins Liveblog I was doing back in, uh... 2009-2010? Well, HAVE SOME MORE. If you need to catch up or refresh your memories (as you certainly do), here is a handy-dandy chapter list for you.

Chapter One: In which our heroes are introduced.
Chapter Two: In which our male heroes attempt to literally tackle a bad guy.
Chapter Three: In which our heroes visit a historic property with no adult supervision.
Chapter Four: In which our female heroes attempt to emulate the male heroes in chapter two and fail miserably.
Chapter Five: In which our heroes chase their main suspect around a mountain.
Chapter Six: In which our heroes go antiquing.
Chapter Seven: In which our heroes visit a mushroom cave.
Chapter Eight: In which our heroes visit a petting zoo and dredge the Hudson River.

And now, without further ado, I present ( Chapter Nine: Spooky Lights. )

So ends Chapter Nine. Expect the next installment in 2015!

I'm at the farmstead for the holiday weekend, and so is Fivey (since the roommate is gone this weekend as well). Fivey and Charlotte are decidedly Not Friends, though I'm sure Charlotte would love to be. She was just way too enthused by the idea of checking him out, to Fivey's dismay, so my room is a dog-free zone.

Charlotte's efforts to befriend Timber have been similarly unsuccessful. She play-bows and does her level best to get him to romp around the yard, but while Timber will bark at her and chase her, he seems to be just generally bewildered with her overall. Someday.

I was able to watch Doctor Who today, so ( spoilers )

At least Elementary was freaking amazing. And Warehouse 13 is back!

So, we have no idea what happened to Hutch. Hutch's fate is a mystery.

In fact, as it turned out, the whole "adoption" angle was the wrong one to take. Putting in a "foster" application for a different dog resulted in my parents a) actually getting a dog, while b) jumping through fewer hoops, and c) getting first dibs on adopting it officially.

So, say hello to Charlotte: ( aka the CUTEST LI'L BABY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WOOOOORLD )

We don't know very much about her personal history. Her original tags are from Joplin, MO, and she's old enough to be a tornado survivor, though we're not sure if that's when she wound up in a shelter or not. She has yet to make a sound besides sighs and the occasional (possibly involuntary) grunt. She's housebroken and crate trained - she's in the crate right now because she was just spayed on Wednesday and shouldn't be wiggling around too much. I'll probably take her out after I post this, though, so she can go to the bathroom before it gets dark.

So yes. She's in some desperate need of fattening up, and more obedience training is a must, but I honestly can't imagine why anyone would give her up. She's a complete and utter doll, you guys.

So, as y'all undoubtedly know (unless you're new or tend to skim or something), I identify as asexual and aromantic. This means, in a nutshell, that I am neither sexually nor romantically attracted to other people: I have no interest in banging anyone or dating anyone.

I don't really talk about it all that much, for a variety of reasons. They tend to boil down to things like, "it's not relevant" or "I don't feel like it" or "I'm too busy watching MST3K," but I am also acutely aware that not many people know much about it, and I'd be lying if I said that the general populace's lack of awareness isn't a big damn reason for me to not bring it up.

So, consider this an open forum. If you have questions, ask away. Since this is unlocked, I believe anonymous commenting is an option for you shy folks. If things get out of hand, I'll lock it down.

Some quick notes from me, first:
1.) I will assume the best of intentions on your part, which means that if you say something offensive, I will endeavor to explain with minimal nastiness why it's offensive instead of just bringing the smackdown.
2.) Unless I think you're just being a douche, in which case I will bring the smackdown and/or lock things down.
3.) It might take me a while to answer a question. Don't take it personally. Could be that I wandered off to do other things, could be that it's a new one and I need time to think about it lest my answer be incoherent and/or incorrect. If other aces on my flist want to chime in, I think that would be awesome, but I'm sure I'll get to things eventually.
4.) The ace spectrum is a varied place, and while I will try to be inclusive, bear in mind that I am not speaking for the asexual community as a whole.

Some quick notes for you:
1.) It is okay to be curious!
2.) It is not okay to dehumanize someone else because you're curious; I am not your patient or your specimen. If your question is of an intensely personal nature, you may want to generalize it a bit--either way, you're probably going to get a generalized answer (what with me not being an accurate representation of the entire community and all).
3.) Try to be cool.
4.) If you want to explore the topic on your own (which I strongly encourage), here are some resources:

- The Asexuality Visibility and Education Network (AVEN). I am not active on this site and have heard some discouraging things about the forums, but it's a good place to go for the basics. It's also pretty much THE big asexuality website, so there you go.
- Google "Swankivy." She is on many different social networks (including LJ, Tumblr, and Youtube) and does great work on the awareness front. Her patience far surpasses my own, and she's wonderfully articulate, even when dealing with the most obnoxious trolls you could imagine. You can learn a lot by looking through her archives.

I think that's about it. Ask away.

And if you have no interest in this topic at all, enjoy this gif of a corgi:

There is a time for inviting locals to worship at your church. When said locals' civic duty compels them to walk into said church is not the time.

With considerable side-eyeing,
Me

P.S. Polite smiling =/= genuine interest in buying what you're selling. Just FYI.

Well.

That didn't make a goddamn bit of sense.

MOVING ON.


(Spoilers in the comments, doubtless.)

Ganked from safenthecity:

Pick a number and I'll answer it in the comments:

1 - Your current OTP.
2 - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind.
3 - A pairing you have never liked and probably never will.
4 - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.
5 - Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?
6 - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?
7 - Do you remember your first OTP? If so who was in it?
8 - Do you prefer characters from real action series or anime series?
9 - Has the internet caused you to stop liking any fandoms? If so, which and why?
10 - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr your social network sites.
11 - How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom?
12 - Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request. What do you ask for?
13 - Your favorite fanart or fanartist.
14 - Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor.
15 - Choose a song at random. Which OTP does it remind you of?
16 - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).
17 - A ship you’ve abandoned and why.
18 - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships.
19 - Show us an example of your personal headcanon.
20 - Do you remember what your first fanwork was?
21 - Self-rec: What's your favorite fanwork you've created?
22 - Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping?
23 - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms.
24 - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms.
25 - A fandom you’re in but have no ships from.
26 - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go.

(And for the convenience of question-askers, I'll strike through ones I've answered already.)

Are you a fan of "The Sound of Music"?

Are you a fan of albums that sample a dozen different genres?

Check it. I have been listening to Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata's take on these R&H tunes all day. I CAN'T STOP CHAIR DANCING.